Today we’re making beautiful butterfly wall decor with vintage brass butterfly stampings and reclaimed wood from an old couch! Don’t let gorgeous oak wood go to waste. Repurpose the wood as home decor and wall art that will be completely unique for your room!
Our upcycled project today is a little different than our usual thrift store makeovers. You can’t even tell what this project was in its previous life!
The Story Behind this Repurposed DIY Project
If you follow our blog and social media you’ll know that in 2019 we moved back to Texas and moved in with my dad in a house that he’s lived in for 30 years. There was a lot of furniture in that house! Including one OLD (and UGLY) black fake leather couch that was used when they bought it over 30 years ago.
This poor old sofa had seen better days. The faux leather was ripped, the upholstered buttons had all popped out, the wood trim had been dinged up, and anyone who slept on the fold-out sofa bed had to see a chiropractor! This couch had served its purpose. Grandkids over the years had slept on it, jumped on it, climbed over it, turned the cushions into forts, and piled onto it for holiday pictures for years.
We might have tried to save it but in the last few years it, unfortunately, had sat right underneath a leak in the roof and sustained water damage.
So, when our son-in-law was here, we had him help with the demolition. As we pulled it apart we decided to repurpose as much of it as we could save. And look what we found… gorgeous solid oak wood! Just look at that grain!
This wood was too beautiful to paint so I decided to find a project where I could stain it instead.
Butterfly Room Decor Wall Art
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Supplies for Brass Butterfly Wall Decor
Here’s a list of the supplies I used. But you can use your imagination to create your own butterfly home decor.
- vintage brass butterfly stampings (Available in our online shop.)
- scrap pieces of oak wood
- sandpaper
- Shabby Paints reVAX – Hazelnut
- Shabby Paints VAX – Matte Top Coat
- rags
- small paintbrush
- vintage music or text
- scissors
- charcoal pencil (from Amazon, see below)
- sawtooth hanger (from Amazon, see below)
- E6000 (from Amazon, see below)
{{{See a complete list of what’s in my toolbox and supply cabinet.}}}
The Home Decor Idea Behind This DIY
I’ve loved these vintage brass butterfly stampings ever since I first found them last year. I sold quite a few of them in the craft supplies section of our shop before I made this project.
I was inspired by the mounted butterfly specimen displays I’ve seen online and in museums and nature centers. But instead of using the scientific names for butterflies, I decided to use vintage texts from old hymnals.
How to Make Butterfly Wall Decor
Bikeman had already cut and sanded the wood for me so I started by staining the oak with Shabby Paints reVAX in Hazelnut. I’ve also used Minwax Express Color in Walnut for similar projects.
Stain, wipe off, and let it dry completely. I like to let my pieces dry on these little orange painter’s pyramids so the wood doesn’t stick to the drop cloth. Those little things are life savers!
While the wood dried, I looked for appropriate phrases in an old hymnal. NOTE: I only cut up old hymnals and books that are damaged in some way — water damage, scribbles, rips, falling apart, etc. I just can’t bring myself to destroy an old book that’s still in good condition. These are easy to find at thrift stores and eBay. I have LOTS in the SheShed so send me an email if you want some and I’ll put together a packet for you.
When the stain was completely dry, I used the VAX as a decoupage medium to apply my phrases to the board.
Now so far, this looks like we just stuck some stuff on a wooden board. I wanted to add some details. So I got out my charcoal pencil, drew lines, and smudged them with my fingers.
Here’s the progression of the project.
The first photo, paper just decoupaged to the wood. Next, a charcoal pencil line around the outside edge of the board. Third, a charcoal pencil line around the text. The last photo just shows the pencil I used.
Finally, I brushed a coat of Matte Top Coat over the whole piece so the finish would match overall.
I added a sawtooth hanger to the back. (It’s easier to put that on before the butterflies.) Then I glued the butterflies on with E6000.
Video of My Butterfly Craft Project
I’m working on a video… hopefully, it’s coming soon!
VIDEO – Coming Soon!
More Upcycled Projects
If you enjoyed this DIY butterfly craft project, you might also like these:
- How to make a Mail Sorter with Old Bread Pans
- Turn an Old Broken Chair into a Planter
- How to Repurpose a Bread Box as a Jewelry Box
- Super Easy Butterfly Wall Art
- How to Make a Bicycle Wheel Wreath
Thanks for reading and liking/commenting/sharing our projects on social media! We appreciate you! And I’d love to hear if you have more ideas for butterfly home decor using these brass stampings!
‘Til the next project,
Ann @ Duct Tape and Denim
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Lissa says
If you have an abundance of old book pages, I’d love to use some in cards and scrapbooking…Like you, I just can’t cut up a good book, but I love the look of old script backgrounds. I really like the way you’ve used the brass butterflies and recycled the oak!